Kindergarten Orientation for parents/guardians and their incoming student will be held from 6-7 p.m. on March 5 at Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor and Rockland schools.
During the orientations, parents will be introduced to administrators and teachers, and be informed of what to expect during the school year. An activity will be provided for the incoming kindergartners.

Preregistration is now open on the District 70 website at d70schools.org. Packets can be downloaded from the website under "New Student Registration," picked up at the Educational Resource Center, 1381 W. Lake St., or can be mailed to the resident by calling the registrar at 847-362-9023.
After packet completion, parents/guardians are asked to make an appointment with the registrar in order to review the packet, as well as present proofs of residency and an official copy of a certified (raised seal) birth certificate. Please register before orientation as there will be a time for questions and answers at the program.

Updated 3-2-2015 5:35 PM

The Current Need for Substitutes 2-23-2015

Human Resources Department

District 70 is now accepting applications for substitute work for the 2014-2015 school year.

In order to be considered "qualified" an applicant needs to have teaching experience, or a teaching degree to include student-teaching experiences. Until further notice, applicants without these qualifications will not be contacted for an interview.

After you have been invited to attend an orientation meeting you should download the documents listed below and bring them with you.

Updated 2-23-2015 6:54 PM

New Student Registration (Including Kindergarten) is Now Underway

Superintendent's Department

It's time to register children who will be attending D70 schools for the first time in the 2015-2016 school year. This includes new kindergartners and new students entering Grades 1-8. From the HOME menu on the school or district web page, click the New Student Registration link to get to the New Student Registration web page. The page hosts the information parents will need to complete the process. Please finish the steps in the order listed.

Updated 2-6-2015 11:03 AM

arteffects Art Show Opens March 4

Superintendent's Department

The D70 "arteffects" art show begin with an Opening Reception from 6-8 p.m. on March 4 at the Cook Park Library in downtown Libertyville. HMS Strolling Strings will perform at 6:15 p.m. and the HMS Show Choir will perform at 7 p.m.

The art show will be on display through April 6.

Updated 3-2-2015 5:35 PM

Communication Update of Calendar and YouTube

Superintendent's Department

We're improving some of our communication tools and wanted to let you know what this means to parents and D70 stakeholders.

We're adding a "Music & Fine Arts" topic to our D70 calendar, allowing unlisted and/or private videos to be posted to YouTube for parent viewing outside of the district, and have pumped up our Emergency Notification System with a new vendor.

Learn all about our improvements and how we can communicate better with more powerful tools.

Updated 2-23-2015 6:49 PM

5Essentials 2015 Surveys and Fact Sheet

Superintendent's Department

The Illinois State Board of Education is once again offering a 5Essentials Survey to students, parents and teachers. The surveys run from Jan. 12 through March 13. Please complete them and make your voice heard.

As a district we value standardized testing as a tool to assist us in measuring student learning. We have prepared and planned well for the newest of endeavors, the PARCC Assessment. This school year, PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career) assessments are replacing the existing statewide assessments (ISAT) in third-eighth grades.

According to PARCC, the primary purpose of the new system "is to provide high quality assessments of students' progress toward secondary readiness and success." The assessments were created with a focus on the students' ability to apply a broad range of concepts rather than memorizing facts. In Math, students are asked to reason and apply mathematical principles. In English Language Arts, (ELA), students are required to read multiple passages and write essay responses by answering prompts in literary analysis, research and narrative concepts. Both measure a student's higher level and critical thinking ability.

The logistics of state testing have changed tremendously with the shift to PARCC. D70 students will now be assessed via an online assessment tool in lieu of traditional paper and pencil exams. There is also an increase in the number of subtests under PARCC. Two distinct testing windows have been set. The first tests are called Performance Based Assessments (PBA) while the second round are considered End of Year Assessments (EOY). Highland Middle will begin PBA tests on Monday, March 9th and elementary schools will begin on Tuesday, March 10th. EOY tests will start the week of April 27th.
We are asking all students bring earphones or earbuds to use at school during PARCC testing.

Since this is the first year of the PARCC assessment, D70 will use performance scores as an evaluative tool. It will help District 70 to establish a baseline for program effectiveness. For individual students PARCC will also be used to supplement instructional and placement decisions already determined by STAR and other district level assessments. As this is the first year of the assessment, score release dates are currently unknown and will be offered by the state once determined. However, a fall 2015 parent report is anticipated.

Students are being asked to write more now than ever before - in all grade levels and in all content areas. To best prepare D70 students for future writing tasks, D70 has adopted Strategies for Writers K-5 by Zaner-Bloser as our new writing program. Strategies for Writers is a comprehensive writing and grammar solution introducing the six traits of writing at every step of the writing process to compose opinions, informative/explanatory essays, and narrative compositions.

Students will write routinely for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences, learn to analyze writing models by reading closely, write to multiple sources using technology, and master grammar and conventions of standard written English. Pre- and post-tests ensure growth and inform differentiated instruction. Students will be engaged in online grammar games, proofreading activities, and composition writing both in the classroom and at home.

This is an exciting time for writing in D70 and we encourage all parents to talk with your child's classroom teacher to learn more about Strategies for Writers.

Updated 2-6-2015 5:17 PM

Changed Dates Due to Snow Days

Superintendent's Department

Please note the following date changes due to Snow Days:

All schools will be open April 24 with students expected to attend. Changed from a Teachers Institute Day, which will now be June 4.

HMS graduation is at 7:30 p.m. on June 2 at LHS.

The last day of school is set tentatively for June 3.

Summer School Open House is from 8-10 a.m. on June 9 at HMS and Rockland schools.

There are several ways that the information will be delivered to you, as well as several methods for you to use to search for the information.

Updated 1-9-2015 11:08 AM

The Fall/Winter D70 Views Newsletter for 2014-15

Superintendent's Department

The D70 Views community newsletter for the Fall/Winter 2014-15 sessions is now posted on our website.

Updated 2-18-2015 8:08 PM

Rockland Celebrates National Blue Ribbon Award

Superintendent's Department

Congratulations once again to the Rockland students, staff and community for being awarded the U.S. Dept. of Education 2014 Blue Ribbon Award.

Updated 12-5-2014 6:23 PM

Solar Project Now Complete

Superintendent's Department

Highland Middle School and Butterfield Elementary School are now being powered, in part, by solar energy.

The $3.2 million solar panel installation project was completed this month, thanks to a private grant of $1.8 million from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. The project makes Libertyville School District 70 the largest solar-run school districts in the state, possibly the midwest.

Both schools can tap into the solar readings of the panels, with plans to use them in the near future for classes when students study energy and for science projects. To see how the Highland Middle School panels are working, click here. To see how Butterfield School solar panels are working, click here.

Updated 11-24-2014 5:35 PM

Board of Education Honored with State Governance Award

Superintendent's Department

The Libertyville School District 70 Board of Education was honored Oct. 30 by the Illinois Association of School Boards with the 2014 School Board Governance Recognition designation.
The prestigious School Board Governance Recognition award is designed to acknowledge school boards that have engaged in activities and modeled behaviors that lead to excellence in local school governance in support of quality public education.
Congrats to Board President Maryann Ovassapian, Board Vice President Tom Vickers, Board Secretary Jennifer Lund, along with fellow board members Julie Damenti, Chris Kennedy, Wendy Schilling and Luke Stowe.

Updated 11-24-2014 1:19 PM

A Letter From Supt. Schumacher on Enterovirus D68

Superintendent's Department

Here is a letter to parents and guardians on precautionary measures to take to help prevent the latest respiratory illness hitting children, called Enterovirus D68.

Updated 9-18-2014 10:50 AM

Supt. Schumacher's Podcast on the New 14-15 School Year

Superintendent's Department

District 70 Supt. Dr. Guy Schumacher welcomes families back to school for the new 2014-15 school year.

Updated 9-8-2014 4:22 PM

New Assessments Set For Students This School Year

Superintendent's Department

Libertyville District 70 students will take new assessments in the 2014-15 school year.

STAR Enterprise Assessments will be administered to kindergarteners through eighth-graders and will replace IOWA assessments, while PARCC will be administered to third- through eighth-graders and replace ISAT testing. This change will help 1) assess student understanding of the new Illinois Learning Standards for math and language arts, 2) help monitor student growth, 3) provide information to guide instruction, 4) evaluate curriculum effectiveness, and 5) provide opportunities for students to have more experience with online testing.

More information is posted on the d70schools.org website under the Curriculum Department, under "Assessment."